Many of us who are on a serious spiritual path are students of life. We love to learn and search for that perfect enlightened wisdom that will put us on the path of being even more spiritual. But that’s where we are misled. We somehow feel that if we read more, take more classes, meditate for longer periods, etc., that these will put us on a faster course to enlightenment. In reality, we are already on our spiritual path. Whatever it is we are experiencing in the here and now is the spiritual path we are meant to be on. It is in this very present moment. We sometimes tend to make the mistake that many if not most of our answers are ‘out there’ and that we need to learn through someone or something else. Because we are taught from birth that we have to get our knowledge and wisdom from others, we don’t know that we can go within and listen to that still small voice that speaks with only unconditional love. Jesus stated repeatedly that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us.Jim Palmer in his book “Notes from (Over) the Edge” stated, “The truth is that there is no act more sacred than being present in the moment and simply responding to the situation as it requires. If this is all you did all day, this would be a profound spiritual life. Your life is your spiritual path. Your life, the way it is right now with everything that is in it, is your reason and purpose for being here. There is nothing to insert into your life to make it more spiritual. God is inseparable from every moment of life and living.”

We know that living a spiritual life means living with love, peace, compassion, kindness, and caring for our fellow beings. We don’t have to pursue these things; we can be these things! If we want to be a testimony to our faith and what we believe, we can be the love, peace, compassion, and so on. There is no greater demonstration than by living by example! Because we are secure in what we believe, we also know that we don’t have to force our beliefs on anyone else.

The other issue we run into is that we are constantly judging everything in our lives as good or bad. We have this idea of how we think things should be so we miss the very message the situation or experience is bringing us. What is good for one person may be bad for another and vice versa. Therefore, it is only our perception or the way we see things that colors our experiences as good or bad. Life just is. The secret is in finding the good in everyone and everything. I’m not saying it’s easy. I know when I look for the good in everything, I can usually find it no matter how big or small.

The other thing is that there are other people who will try to tell you that they have all the answers and that you have to accept their answers for yourself or believe the way they do. When we are constantly relying on others to tell us what to believe based on what they believe, we miss out on so much more that the Universe would have for us to learn. That’s not to say that what others tell you or what they believe is wrong. There is so much we can learn from others. A good teacher will allow you to find your own beliefs and not condemn you because you may come to a different conclusion.

We can still walk a personal spiritual path and continue to belong to various religions or churches. Your personal spiritual journey does not mean you have to give these up or abandon any beliefs you may already have. It’s more of an awakening of consciousness and discovering your inner divine magnificence that has nothing to do with anyone else. The Bible says that we were ALL made in the image of God (or the God of your understanding), which means we ALL have that divine essence that is in everyone and everything.

We can all go directly to the Source of the All-That-Is without relying on others to do it for us. It’s also okay to ask questions and search for our own answers. As Ram Dass said, “The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.” Published in the Cookeville Herald Citizen newspaper May 29, 2015.

Several years ago, I went on two exciting cruises with Richard Simmons, the health/exercise expert, and had a fabulous time! Richard used to facilitate what he called a ‘Cruise to Lose’ every year, and I had the privilege of being on his last cruise before he stopped doing them. I’ve always loved Richard, but meeting him and getting to know him endeared me to him that much more. His love and compassion for people with health issues runs deep and he takes it very seriously in that he does whatever he can to help others. I was only a few pounds overweight, but like many people nowadays, I was addicted to sugar and chocolate. They’re my comfort foods and when I’m stressed, upset, or angry, they’re the first things I turn to. In hindsight, being addicted to sugar and chocolate has been a blessing because it really helped me understand what it’s like for others whether it’s with food, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, soda, gambling, and so on. Because I was also on a serious spiritual journey, I learned not to judge anyone with addictions and I learned to have so much more love, compassion, kindness, and understanding towards others who are also struggling. It’s so easy for us to sit back and judge those with addictions and say “All they have to do is stop.” Most people use various addictive substances to numb the pain of whatever it is they are feeling. For those with addictions we know that it’s not that easy no matter how negatively it is affecting our health or those around us. Some addictions, particularly if they are severe, not only destroy the lives of those with the addictions, but can destroy the lives of their loved ones and everyone around them. I’ve seen many of my friends succumb to some horrible addictions. Many would say and do things they would not normally do if sober or in their right mind. No matter what the addiction, it affects our mind, body, and Spirit and puts people through literal hell on earth. And when people lose hope, they get lost in those addictions and may go into that deep, dark abyss of no return. Some people believe that those who have serious addictions should be cast aside or we tend to demonize them, and many may end up in jail/prison when all they really need is to have access to rehabilitation. Many succeed and yet there are also many who go right back to their addiction because whatever substance they use has a very strong hold on them. Chris Prentiss stated, “At the bottom of every person’s dependency, there is always pain. Discovering the pain and healing is an essential step in ending dependency.” The key is to not treat just the addiction, but in finding the root cause that is causing the addiction in the first place. Then there’s peer pressure where people, particularly our young, feel they have to participate in the substance abuses in order to feel accepted. Look at many of the college parties (or even high school age parties) and you’ll see the students out of control and abusing these substances to a great extent! Part of the reason for addictions is that we do not love ourselves totally and unconditionally and we try to fill that void with something outside ourselves. When we do have that unconditional love for ourselves, we know we don’t need the substance. We know that everything we need is within. But not many of us have come to that point. How do we in churches take care of our addicts? Do we judge them and throw them out of the church? Do we demonize them and make them feel worse than they already feel? Jesus and all the other great Spiritual Masters would never have treated anyone in these ways! Churches should be a refuge to receive love, acceptance, and maybe even some kind of assistance. We should love them just as they are and try to help them overcome their addictions! If you have an addiction, please get help. Keep trying to succeed in overcoming. It’s not going to be easy, but when we take it one step and one day at a time, we can make progress. As T.S. Eliot said, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” You are the most important person in your recovery and you are so loved! As Deepak Chopra stated, “You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.” I love you and I believe in you!Published in the Cookeville Herald Citizen newspaper May 22, 2015.

Charles Fillmore, the founder of Unity, stated “When you feel good you sing, either audibly or silently…. Nearly anyone can sing a little song. It is a marvelous health restorer. Singing restores harmony to tense nerves. Its vibrations stir them into action thus making it possible for the ever-waiting healing Spirit to get in.” I love to sing! I may not have perfect pitch and there are times I sing totally off key, but I sing from my heart and soul and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Singing in our church choir has been a joy for me. There are times I can sing really well, and if I listen to myself, I wonder where that voice is coming from because surely it can’t be from me. And then there are other times I sound like Kermit the Frog and I end up lip syncing my way through the music so no one will wonder where that squeaking and groaning is coming from (though some would say Kermit is a great singer!). Music is big industry! Everywhere you look, you can see people wearing their ear buds while listening to their favorite artists. Granted, I can’t tolerate loud music where you can’t understand the words, there’s no beat, and where musical instruments are doing more screaming than playing. It seems that so much of our music anymore is just loud noise. In fact, some of the lyrics of many of our songs can be extremely negative and even frightening because they propagate so much hate and violence. Give me a positive, loving song any time! I always say that you can tell you’re getting older when you appreciate your parents’ generation of music. I love the 40’s and 50’s genres! Music was cleaner and it was easy to sing along with the artists. When Elvis and The Beatles came on the scene, it caused an uproar as parents thought it was the end of civilization as we knew it. Today, their music is quite mild compared to what we hear today. The Beetles wrote many songs that had positive messages that we still appreciate and sing to this day, and many continue to listen to both Elvis and The Beetles. I used to love the old-time Gospel music and still do to a certain degree. I grew up singing many of the old spirituals and Tennessee Ernie Ford was always my favorite gospel singer. My all-time favorite gospel song and one of my favorite songs to sing, especially in public, is “Amazing Grace” and I sing it to the melody of “The House of the Rising Sun” made popular by the Blind Boys of Alabama among others. In the song, I do change the word ‘wretch’ to ‘soul,’ though, as I don’t believe any of us are wretches. Today, I love the more upbeat, inspiring spiritual music that is filled with positive and affirmative lyrics. Singing is good for the heart, mind, and soul! Music and singing can be very healing! Whenever I’m feeling down or discouraged, I’ll sing many of these songs over and over to make myself feel better. If I’m hearing a lot of hatred and negativity, I like to sing the chorus from Kenny Rogers’ version of “Love Lifted Me.” “Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else would do, love lifted me.” Or if I’m feeling discouraged and/or low on hope, I’ll sing, “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing gonna be all right” from the song “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. There are many wonderful spiritual artists who write/sing spiritual music with positive lyrics. Some of my favorites are Richard Mekdeci, Karen Drucker, Dale Worley, Lauren Lane Powell, and many more. I would highly recommend looking their music up on the Internet. There are also many secular songs with positive lyrics as well. Music is universal and good music brings people together. There’s a wonderful organization called “Playing for Change” that was established in 2002. They take mobile recording studios and cameras all over the world and record people singing on the same track so you get a beautiful blend of cultures and voices all singing and playing the same song. Their music is phenomenal and always lifts me up! You can find them at playingforchange.org So…. “Sing, sing a song! Sing out loud! Sing out strong! Sing of good things not bad. Sing of happy not sad. Sing, sing a song! Make it simple to last your whole life long! Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear! Just sing, sing a song.” (“Sing,” made popular by The Carpenters; lyrics and music by Joe Raposo.)Published in the Cookeville Herald Citizen newspaper May 8, 2014.